Saturday, August 21

We were both tired and slept in on Saturday morning. Kathryn suggested that I go up to the roof and check out the pool and work out room. The view was great of the harbor, the skyline of Barcelona and the women up there who were sunbathing topless. When I got back to the room, I gave Kathryn a high five, and she asked if I liked the view, I told her “yes”, and why, and she gave me one of those, “why do I have to put up with you” looks!


We got on board one of those double-decker buses for a tour of Barcelona. It was hot and the bus was crowded. We got seats on the top and the view was great. We got off at one of the stops that looked interesting and ended up in a market that looked a lot like the Westside Market in Cleveland. All sorts of meats, cheeses, prepared foods and plenty of fresh produce.

We worked our way up the street to La Catedral de Barcelona. Construction started in 1295 and the last tower was not completed until 1926. It is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. We walked around some of the streets surrounding the Cathedral until 1:00 when it officially opened for tours. Right in front of the altar was a set of steps that were about 12 wide and took you down to a tomb and crypt (sorry, lost the name of the current inhabitants). I had never seen this in such a prominent Cathedral before.

The Cathedral is under renovation and we took the elevator to the roof where most of the work is visible on the towers. I would imagine that any building of this size and age is constantly undergoing some sort of renovation.

For as old as the Cathedral is, their fund raising techniques were pretty modern. I don’t really know the official term for them, but most Catholic Churches have the displays of candles that you can pay for, light and then dedicate a prayer for something. At the Cathedral, there was a coin slot, and depending on what coin you put in, one or more candles would light up. The “candles” were electric, so there was no real “lighting” involved, more like throwing a switch for someone! Well, Kathryn put in a euro, and a whole row lit up (maybe ten electric candles). Soooo….

If you are on Kathryn’s prayer list, you are well taken care of!

We got back on the tour bus and decided to stop at Poble Espanol). This village was created in 1929 for an International Fair held in Madrid to display the many varied architectural styles of Spain. The two architects, who designed the village, traveled Spain for two years before their design work began. It costs about 10 Euros to get in. The interpretation on the audio phones we rented was very poor and boring. There are supposed to be Spanish crafts-people at work, but most of the shops were filled with “things” you find just about anywhere and a lot were made in China. There were several restaurants, but very few people around to use them. I would not recommend this site to anyone. It is tired and needs some real “punch” to bring it alive.

After a short nap back at the hotel, we walked up La Rambia Boulevard, which was filled with people, restaurants, more street people, shops and booths. We were hustled by a ten year old boy who sold us this toy (it lights up and you fling it up in the air via a rubber band, about 100 feet). He had this great smile and sold us one of these things for four Euros. We later found out that the going price was two for 5 Euros (and we wondered why he had this great smile on his face the whole time he hustled us!) ha

We ate cheap since we had blown the travel budget for the day (I won’t even tell you where!).